Full Fibre Broadband

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:25 pm on 9 November 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:25, 9 November 2021

I thank Carolyn Thomas for that, Llywydd, and I thank her for writing to the Welsh Government, to my colleague Vaughan Gething, on behalf of the company, and as a result of her letter I know that the economy Minister's officials met with FibreSpeed last week, and part of what they will be doing now will be to make sure that relations between them and UK Government action on the ground at Holyhead is improved, and that the company are able to make their case. The general point that the Member makes, of course, is a very important one; Holyhead remains a pivotal port for the United Kingdom. The impact of Brexit on it and the Northern Ireland protocol is very real. The need for new infrastructure at the port to deal with the new obligations that we will now have to discharge as a result of leaving the European Union are very important to the port. We aim to work collaboratively with the UK Government on that matter. But it was, Llywydd, deeply concerning to see in the comprehensive spending review that the Chancellor declined directly to offer a commitment to fund that infrastructure once the capital investment has been concluded. The running costs of those facilities, which have never been provided to the Welsh Government and are not a consequence of our own decision making, will be considerable, and it is a genuine obligation on the UK Government to make sure that that activity goes on being funded.